Merriam-Webster defines a novella as “a work of fiction intermediate in length and complexity between a short story and a novel.”
I suppose I already knew that intuitively before I read Marty Beckerman’s novella ’90s Island, but I remember looking it up because I hadn’t ever (officially, at least) read one.
I’d read short stories, novels, pamphlets, the backs of cereal boxes (highly underrated), brochures… you get the point. But never a novella and I was curious what sort of story would fit in that somewhat awkward ether between novel and short story.
The answer, I’d find out in 108 digitally delivered pages, was ‘90s Island.
This book, ironically based on the plot, was recommended to me on Facebook. A friend posted that he had just finished this novella (I scoffed, alone in my boxers in my living room) and that it was terrific.
I looked into Mr. Beckerman using only the most reliable of sources—Wikipedia—and discovered that he was approximately 30 years old, which meant that his conception of the 1990s, while probably a little deeper than mine, probably wasn’t too far off.
Everyone thinks the decade they grew up in is better than the one they’re currently living in. Athletes were tougher, music was better, people were more trustworthy. For those of us fortunate enough to have been born in the late 1980s, the 1990s is that decade.
The story follows twin brothers Zack and Jake (thankfully not Jack) Hind as they approach their 30th birthdays. Annoyed with the way their lives have turned out and nostalgic beyond all belief, they drunkenly create a Kick Starter page for ‘90s Island, a place where everything (literally) is from that magical decade.
The next morning they awake to not only throbbing headaches but also national coverage for their drunken stunt and millions of pledged dollars. In short order, what was once a fanciful, boozily-conceived dream has become a reality.
With the help of a US-opposed dictator (yes, that’s right), the brothers secure an actual island for their utopia and begin their society. Zack takes the role of power monger while his brother Jake relaxes in his new found, girlfriend-less (she chose to stay on the mainland, if you can believe it) world filled with Dunk-a-roos, Nirvana and Reebok pumps.
The rest of the plot, frankly, is fairly irrelevant. If you’re reading ‘90s Island because you just have to know what happens to Zack and Jake then you really need to get a life. (That said, there is a clean resolution to everything)
One Amazon commenter titled his/her review “Like the 90s, this was just the right length.” That doesn’t make any literal sense, but the point is still a solid one. I’ve long argued that you can only laugh for so long at any given thing (a comedy show, a book, a movie, etc.) before you simply get tired of it and want to be done. Often times (read: always) that line is crossed.
Not so with ‘90s Island. There are just enough witty, holy-shit-I-forgot-about-that references made (a specific example, a nod to the way the camera crew in Wayne’s World counted down 3-2-1), just enough snarky dialogue and just enough nostalgia to remind you that the ‘90s were one hell of a decade.
Maybe not worth going to a utopian island or worth reading a whole novel… but a novella? I’d say so.
